Qatar - Committee on the Rights of the Child - Death penalty - April 2025
Date: April 1, 2025
Country: Qatar
Partners: World Coalition Against the Death Penalty
Issues: Children's Rights, Death Penalty
Mechanism: UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
Report Type: Shadow/Parallel Report
Country: Qatar
Partners: World Coalition Against the Death Penalty
Issues: Children's Rights, Death Penalty
Mechanism: UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
Report Type: Shadow/Parallel Report
Qatar's Penal Code appears to contain a loophole by which courts may sentence a person to death for homicide committed when the person was under the age of 18. While the Penal Code prohibits the death penalty for juvenile offenders, the relevant prohibition does not appear to apply to retribution, or qisas, offenses, including murder, if either the offender or the victim is Muslim. As an urgent matter, Qatar must close this loophole and uniformly prohibit death sentences for any crimes committed when the offender was believed to be under the age of 18 years.
